Archive for category: GAMEtime Sharing

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Daniel 2:17-30.  Let’s go!

Daniel 2:17-18 (NIV)
17  Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.
18  He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

On verses 17-18:  Clearly Daniel was not depending on his own strength and wisdom to overcome this dilemma.  He was looking to God, and to help him do that, he urges his friends to pray to God for help.

There have been many times when the prayer support of others has made such a miraculous, tangible difference in my life and ministry.  Don’t be afraid or ashamed to ask people to pray alongside you when you’re facing an especially difficult and pressure-filled situation.

Hi GAMErs!

Today we begin the book of Daniel.  While you will always find people positing other theories, there is good reason to believe that the book of Daniel was written by Daniel himself starting in approximately 605 B.C.   Many Bible scholars believe that Daniel lived around the same time as the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel, was born of noble birth in Judah and spent his first 15 years or so there.  Growing up in Judah, Daniel probably heard the prophet Jeremiah preach about how one day because of their persistent rebellion against God, the king of Babylon would take over Jerusalem and send its people into exile.  When Jerusalem in fact fell to Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel was among the young Jewish men who were taken to Babylon, to be educated in the Babylonian system in service of the Babylonian king.  Daniel would spend the rest of his life living outside of Jerusalem, serving in the administration of various foreign kingdoms, including Babylon and Persia, while holding fast to his faith in the LORD.

Today’s passage is Daniel 1:1-21.  Let’s go!

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Romans 16:1-16.  Let’s go!

Romans 16:1-2 (NIV)
1  I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchrea.
2  I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many people, including me.

On verses 1-2:  It would still be some time before Paul would be able to visit Rome.  In the meantime, Paul asks the church in Rome to welcome Phoebe.  Many believe that Phoebe was the one delivering this letter to the church in Rome on Paul’s behalf.  If that is the case, here’s a lesson for us:  Just as the church in Rome was to treat Phoebe the messenger with honour, we want to treat with honour those who bring God’s Word to us, whether it’s in the way we welcome them, speak to them, speak about them or otherwise treat them.

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Romans 15:14-21.  Let’s go!

Romans 15:14-21 (NIV)
14  I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another.
15  I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me
16  to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
17  Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God.
18  I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done–
19  by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.
20  It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.
21  Rather, as it is written: “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.”
 
On verses 14-21:  A running theme in the book of Romans is: focus on the grace God has given you.  

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Romans 14:13-23.  Let’s go!

Romans 14:13-22a (NIV)
13  Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.
14  As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.
15  If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died.
16  Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil.
17  For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,
18  because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

On verses 13-22a:  We’ve been learning in Romans 14 that there are certain truths in the Bible that are indisputable and that form the foundation of our faith as Christians.  There are other matters where the Bible is not as clear and where Christians are free to have their own opinions and preferences.  These are what Paul calls “disputable matters”.